Mechanics Institute Chess Room Newsletter #276

I think we mislearn a lot about chess and acquire bad thinking habits. Central to this is not checking things carefully and instead going by 'feel'. There is, for example, a huge overestimation of the strength of 'attacking positions' at club level. Unless players start checking positions for themselves at some point (ie processing the information which comes their way) they'll continue to misassess these things based on generalities such as 'this looks dangerous'. This is why we must ANALYSE, ANALYSE, ANALYSE. And NOT generalize!

Note this is the second Newsletter this week which takes the place of the one that would normally appear next Tuesday.

1) Mechanics' Institute Club News

NM Igor Margulis is a point ahead of the field with 6.5 from 7 with one round remaining in the Fall Tuesday Night Marathon having defeated Edward Perepelitsky in round 7. He will play the other Perepelitsky twin, Phillip, in the finale. Sharing second with Phillip at 5.5 is 15-year-old Louiza Livschitz, rated only 1891.

The Winter Marathon, an 8-rounder, will start on January 10 and run through March 7 with a free day on February 14. There will be no lectures the next two Tuesday and Wednesdays due to the Holidays. MI GM-in-Residemce, Alex Yermolinsky will resume his regular routine on January 3rd.

This Saturday Anthony Corrales will be running Quads for kids. Registration is from 9:30 to 10:15.

2) DeFirmian leads Marshall Chess Club Championship

UC Berkeley grad GM Nick DeFirmian leads the Marshall Chess Club Championship with 5 of 9 rounds completed. DeFirmian has 4.5 followed by fellow GM Leonid Yudasin at 4. Among those tied at 3.5 in the 37 player field are GMs Ildar Ibragimov and Joel Benjamin.

Those with a good memory will remember IM Renato Naranja, formerly of the Phillipines who lived in the Bay Area for many years. Now residing in New Jersey, Naranja has started playing a few months ago and seems to be regaining his old strength (remember his draw with Bobby at the Palma Interzonal in 1970?) having already upset GM Rohde in the Marshall Championship.

The two weekend event, which has attracted 37 players, concludes this weekend.

3) Two Rediscovered Fischer Games

Tom Burns of Minnesota sends in the following two games from Fischer's Montreal simul which have not appeared in any books.

4) Here and There

The latest issue of New In Chess Magazine (8/2005) is as usual full of plenty of excellent material. I found GM Jonathan Rowson's review of the controversial Chess Bitch by Jennifer Shahade to be quite balanced and well reasoned.

This Saturday marks the start of the East Bay Chess Club's GM/IM norm Swiss. Tops guns in the 9-round event which runs through December 27 are GMs Jaan Ehlvest, Alex Yermolinsky and John Fedorowicz. Spectators are welcome and some games will be shown live on the ICC. Go to www.eastbaychess.com for more information.

Chess in Oakland is starting to grow. Many (many) years ago the city of 400,000 had a thriving chess scene but that has not been the case for more than 30 years. The Mechanics' Institute, as part of it's program to help chess in the Bay Area gave 25 sets to NM Robert Hammie for his program in the Oakland Public Schools. In Newsletter #253 we reported on the work of MI member Demetrius Goins, who with donations from the Institute, has started a program at the Lakeview Branch library (550 El Embarcadero) every Wednesday from 3:30pm to 5:15pm (contact Mr. Goins or Mary Farrell at (510) 238-7344 for more information).

Now Robert Johnson and Jose Guerrero have started up a club at the Cesar Chavez Public Library a half block from the Fruitvale BART station which meets Mondays from 5pm to 7:45pm, thanks in part to a donation of sets, boards, books, magazines and score sheets from the Mechanics. For more information contact them at (510) 684-9696/(510) 535-1241 or by e-mail chess_oakland@yahoo.com or rtdjohnsonii@yahoo.com .

Andy Ansel sends two exciting encounters you won't find in any database from the golden years of California chess.

Rounds: 1st round 9:00 am. Next rounds ASAP.
Byes must be submitted before the 2nd round for a half a point.
Award Ceremony: there will be an Awards Ceremony immediately after the last round.
All cash prizes are unconditionally guaranteed.

What to bring: chess clocks and a pen.
PLEASE TURN CELL PHONES OFF
You can also register and have questions answered at 435-656-2117